Last December
by Dark.Silver.Flower
Summary: It was a cold December in Tokyo and a storm was brewing in Ame's heart. Will the cynical girl discover that there is really love in this world?


1

It was December 16. It was cold, it was snowing, and it was a day I would never forget. I had just turned 19 that past spring and was living with my family in Fukushima, Japan. It was just me, my parents, and my family's three cats. I will admit I was pretty lucky.

I mean, I have never had a pretty family life. I was born as the first and only child into a middle class family living on the outskirts of the city. They had named me "Ame" meaning "rain" in Japanese; little did they know it would reflect my personality as I grew older. I was a spoiled child, people always gave me lots of attention, and I resented it. As I grew older I became more rebellious and attempted to remove myself from the bounds my family put upon me, but the harder I struggled, the more controlling they became. We fought often and I was seldom a happy teenager despite my pleasant demeanor. However, my dark hair, dark makeup, rebellious clothes, and a love of loud music horrified the conservative elders of the community. Then one day everything changed.

I admit I was the most hated young adult in the city at that point when I decided to call my friend on the night of December 14.

_"Misaki…" _ I remember saying, the memory now playing back like an old fashion film where the sound is not quite right and things are not as clear as if in person, but none-the-less you become absorbed into the story.

_"Ame, what is it?" _She had said inquisitively.

_"Do you think I will ever get out of here? I mean, I'm 19, I could live out on my own, couldn't I?"_

_ "Ame…" _She began, _"You could never live on your own. Haha, you never even remember to feed the cats or do laundry…or eat!"_

We had a good laugh, and then I replied in a sorrowful tone, _"Misaki… I…" _My voice quivered very slightly, _"I…"_

_ "Now you listen here, Miss Ame, why don't you… come live out here with me? I just have this feeling that you living with your family much longer isn't going to be very good for you…You know, I've been thinking about this a mighty long time, actually…"_

I was excited, then embarrassed all in about the elapsed time of more or less two seconds, _"I could never live with you! I mean… damn, Misaki… You have a two bedroom apartment and you and Ni already live there…"_

Misaki was my childhood friend, my best friend for as long as I can remember. She was 21, two years older than me and lived in Tokyo with her cousin, Fuyu, who was one year her junior. We had been calling Fuyu "Ni" since I was about 11 because she despised the odd name meaning "winter". For some reason she thought being called "two" was much better. I had known both of them growing up here in Fukushima and we were a striking trio when seen walking down the street; I with my deep brown hair and obviously Caucasian characteristics such as green, round eyes and striking height, Misaki, who was far more Asian looking with jet black hair and shorter stature, and Ni with a mixture of the two (for her mother was American) with brown, straight hair and blue eyes and a taller than average physique. They had moved away a matter of months ago when their mother had died and their father decided to open a small market-type store on the outskirts of Tokyo. His daughter and niece came along and lived more inside the city.

_"Don't be ridiculous!"_ She mused, _"You can sleep in my room; we can always have someone drag another bed up here. Plus," _She said in a tone that indicated she was up to something as usual, _"we get to split the rent three ways now. Hell, I bet my dad will even give you a job down at the marketplace he owns. Not too many customers to be a stressful job but plenty enough to keep us in business…"_

There was no reason to argue. She was right. And now, I could finally be…happy.

Two days later…

So that was exactly how my adventure started: with a bag of five changes of clothes as well as the equivalent to $150 in Yen and a promise of a new life, somewhere far off (at least that's how it seemed to me). I left with these things after leaving a note on my refrigerator at home. I don't really think they cared at all.

It was a two and a half hour train ride from Fukushima to Tokyo where I would meet up with Misaki at the station. Naturally, our train was delayed because of snow and I had to wait for a couple of hours.

"Ame!" I heard a charismatic voice cry out at the platform.

"Tamosuke! What are you doing here!" I said in surprised but vibrant tone. I couldn't help but feel nervous, however. I wanted nothing to hold me back. However, this IS Tamosuke, my neighbor and a good friend of mine.

"Haha, Ame!" He was out of breath from running. "I'm going to Hiroshima for a few weeks to see family." He finally stopped speaking in gasps of air. I watched as he composed his pale face and violet eyes framed in silky silver hair. "Wait… you told me you were moving… but why so soon?"

"Tamosuke, I need to leave this place behind. You know I'll miss you… promise you'll call me?" I said in almost a begging-whimper while cocking my head to the side. Funny how some guys react to that.

His violet eyes darkened with sadness and then he brightened back up into his charismatic self. "Yeah! I'll do that. Say, Ame, I'll even come visit you some day, alright?"

"You bet." I said. I couldn't help but smile. It was a nice scene: two friends bundled in coats on a snowy afternoon, going their separate ways about to say goodbye with a promise to see each other again.

Just at that moment a voice came over the loud speaker.

"Well," Tamosuke said "that's the last call for everyone to board my train… I have to go. I'll see you later, 'k?"

"Alright then… Bye!" I said. I admit I was suddenly saddened, but I didn't know that he would soon, very soon keep his promise to come see me…

An hour later….

I sat on the train that day, just as it was about to leave from a stop at another station after mine. My brown hair slid off from where it touched my shoulders in layers and covered my eyes as I nodded off to sleep in my seat with my head bent forward. Before I could fall asleep, however, I saw another young woman dressed almost like me carrying a guitar case and wearing big black boots. She sat diagonally from me with a perky girl with orange hair. They were deep in conversation and I thought _"It's a shame, the interesting people we see but will never meet again…"_ From that twilight zone I drifted into a soft sleep.

Oh, but how wrong I was…


End file.
